ISLAMABAD: Cellular services were suspended in the twin cities on Thursday to ensure security as Independence Day rehearsals were underway, officials told The Express Tribune.
“Due to security reasons, cellular services have been shut from 5:30am to 12:30pm on Thursday and will be suspended tomorrow morning as well for August 14 celebrations,” the official said.
Independence Day celebrations will be observed at the Convention Centre in Islamabad and will attended by President Mamnoon Hussain, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Army Chief General Raheel Sharif.
The military on Wednesday said it has busted a ‘foreign-sponsored’ gang which was planning to sabotage Independence Day celebrations in Karachi.
The military’s media wing said the operation was carried out on the basis of credible intelligence which suggested that the gang was planning a major attack in Karachi on August 14. It added that the gang had been planning the attack for some time and had already prepared an explosives-laden vehicle and motorcycle which they intended to use on Independence Day. Pakistan’s claims that the failed terror plot has been traced to Afghanistan came amid recent allegations by the Afghan leadership that Islamabad is doing little to stop attacks in the war-torn country.
